OPAQUE
by GottaLoveMEgan
Summary: "She was always above him. She was above him when he met her in that bar, he a starving artist, she a captivating minx of a waitress. She was above him even as he acted as if she were below him, using her like a pawn to distract the audience and disguise his sleight. And she was above him she walked out on his pathetic ass." Atlas' thoughts during the bubble illusion. Danley.


OPAQUE  
Set during the bubble act. What was running through J. Daniel Atlas's mind as he watched his former assistant floating above him? Danley

**Disclaimer**: As obvious from my lack of the title "millionaire", I do not own any part of Now You See Me.

J. Daniel Atlas is not faithful. He isn't the type to settle down- hell he won't even be there the morning after. Most of the girls he meets are nameless, faceless even, after enough time. To them he is a magician, the great J. Daniel Atlas. He has been with so many and has gone by many names, but only one woman has ever known him as Danny. And she is floating above him, putting her trust fully in him for the first in years.  
The illusion draped around her shimmers in brilliant, opaque colors. Hues of purple and blue, greens, pink, all swirling around and into themselves, captivating the crowd and cradling the woman. And yet in the brilliance that is his own creation, Atlas sees only one color: the radiant red of the woman's hair, pooling around her in the moment as if she really were floating above him.  
She was always above him. She was above him when he met her in that bar, he a starving artist, she a captivating minx of a waitress. She was above him even as he acted as if she were below him, dressing her in demeaning outfits and using her like a pawn to distract the audience and disguise his sleight. And she was above him she'd finally had enough and walked out on his pathetic ass.  
Now here she is, not quite regretting and not quite forgiving, but she's not quite bitter either. He would like to say there is not One Girl. He can have any girl he wants any time he wants. He doesn't get sentimental or jealous.  
But as he watches Henley Reeves floating above him in that shimmering bubble, Daniel takes a moment to forget everything he doesn't do because she's right there and she's beautiful and she's waiting for him to catch her. In that moment he wants to be something to her, somehow more significant than all the other hungry males who are staring at her in the same manner.  
Maybe that's why what should be a simple catch to complete the stunt becomes something significantly more between them. Maybe she sees everything in his eyes, everything he is feeling and thinking; maybe that's why her minx eyes are laughing.  
And he feels guilt, a sudden jab at his gut, because what right does he have to want her when he threw her away like yesterday's trash. It's mixed with a bit of regret (a bit more than he will ever care to confront). Regret is so rare for J. Daniel Atlas because he controls everything- thinks about everything beforehand and follows through to the most successful outcome. There are no chances so there are no regrets.  
No, J. Daniel Atlas does not regret, does not feel remorse. But, sometimes, _Danny_ does. Sometimes, in the night with another faceless girl, over a drink, when the cheering crowds have dissipated and the lights have dimmed and he is left alone with a wad of cash and a stack of cards, Danny feels regret.  
So in this moment, with the woman dropped into his (always) waiting arms, he must be Danny. In this moment, in the middle of a show where (the facade of) J. Daniel Atlas is most essential, she with her radiant red hair and minx eyes have transformed him into Danny. (Maybe it wasn't such a transformation as he would have hoped. Maybe he was always Danny and Atlas was nothing more than a frail mask.)  
Danny is feeling remorse. Danny is regretting pushing her away. Danny wants to apologize, wants to promise to be faithful. But Danny isn't in the middle of an audience, one wrong action away from a lifetime in prison. That was Atlas. Atlas doesn't apologize, he isn't faithful, and the fact that she left him was not his fault.  
She sees Danny; the crowd sees Atlas. The two personalities are at an intersection, temporarily crossing the same path. Danny wants to apologize while Atlas wants to blame.  
The shimmering hues have dissipated, a sudden pop dispersing the color to float down into the roaring crowd. And in this fleeting moment Danny holds the woman.  
Her scream and his heroic appearance have given power to the pure ego that is J. Daniel Atlas. And still her eyes tether Danny to this spot.  
In this way his words are neither that of Danny nor Atlas, they are the words of a man that has only ever existed when he is right here, under her.  
"Maybe you have lost some weight."


End file.
